Timberland and Found Object Present:

1/3

Fraction of the world's population that are smallholder farmers. They produce 70% of the world's food.

About The Film

Once known as the richest agricultural country in the Caribbean, Haiti has been wracked by instability and natural disasters. Decades of decline have taken their toll on Haiti’s people, and today the country is 98% deforested with little of its once prosperous agricultural industry enduring. When Timberland commits to creating a sustainable intervention in Haiti that will lead to 5 million trees in 5 years, they work to find partners that understand the harsh realities of aid work but share the vision to build something sustainable.

Over the course of 5 years, we follow Timberland’s support of a nascent partnership between a Haitian agronomist and a former NGO leader that commit to empowering communities of farmers to plant millions of trees while improving their crop yields. As the end of Timberland’s financial support approaches, SFA’s leaders race to develop new markets and opportunities for Haitian farmers that will endure and ensure a sustainable, greener future.

Timote Georges

Co-Founder and Country Director, Smallholder Farmers Alliance

“Farmers have a lot of opportunities... But there is no structure to help them use what they have. We need to teach them what to do and why.”

Watch the Trailer

Hugh Locke

Co-Founder And President, Smallholder Farmers Alliance

“In Haiti, the farmers have not had any support to improve their agricultural system for generations. And then there's the lack of trees. So I asked the question, what if we took these two big issues, deforestation and a lack of support for agriculture and turned them into a small business?”

Press and Reviews

“Kombit: The Cooperative makes the concept of reseeding community a tangible reality that other companies and nonprofits can learn from.”

Beth Holzman - CSR Thought Leader

“This creative private-public partnership not only reached its goal of planting 5 million trees, but has transformed into a 3,000-member smallholder farming cooperative that is entirely self-sustained.”

“Any individual, company or organization thinking of trying to help solve problems in another country should see this documentary.”

Melissa Gaskill - freelance writer

Margaret Morey-Reuner

Director of Strategic Partnerships, Timberland

“When Hugh and Timote came to us with their idea it was based on paying the farmers to plant trees. We said that all sounds well and good, but what happens when the funding runs out?....If we could develop a sustainable model, then we would be on the right path to address the deforestation problem in Haiti and other places throughout the world.”

The Smallholder Farmers Alliance Model

Farmers volunteer in one of the 19 nurseries and...

Plant Trees

Farmers use tools and training to plant trees on community and farm land

Trees fight erosion and improve soil quality

Farmers receive seeds, tools, and training in exchange for work in the nursery

Plant Crops

Farmers use tools and training to cultivate crops and trees

Trees provide a living border and shade for crops

Aided by trees and training, crops produce higher yield

Give Back

Increased harvests produce higher profit, yield, and seeds

Seeds are returned to the seed bank

The system becomes self-sustaining: proceeds are used to train more farmers